1 May in Ferrari history: Patrick Tambay’s emotional Imola win
May 1 in Ferrari Formula 1 history
Explore Ferrari Grand Prix results, qualifying and Sprint sessions, driver birthdays, remembrance dates and selected milestones connected with this day.
Ferrari Grands Prix held on May 1
Ferrari qualifying sessions on May 1
Race, qualifying, Sprint and Ferrari driver biographical dates are generated from the locally processed F1DB dataset. Session anniversaries are shown only when an explicit session date is available in the source. Selected non-race Ferrari milestones are curated separately from Ferrari sources. Historical shared-car result rows are preserved without inventing additional Grand Prix starts.
On 1 May 1983, Patrick Tambay won the San Marino Grand Prix for Ferrari at Imola. René Arnoux finished third, giving the Scuderia a double podium on an afternoon with a particularly strong emotional connection to Gilles Villeneuve.
Ferrari’s number 27 returns to victory at Imola
Patrick Tambay carried the number associated with Gilles Villeneuve, whose death the previous year remained deeply felt by Ferrari supporters. Starting third, the Frenchman faced a race loaded with memories as well as sporting expectations.
He later described how a Canadian maple leaf painted on the grid by the tifosi had moved him before the start. That tribute connected the occasion directly with his friend and former Ferrari driver.
After 60 laps, Patrick Tambay finished 48.781 seconds ahead of Alain Prost’s Renault. René Arnoux completed the podium in the second Ferrari, adding to the team’s points return.
A victory in Ferrari’s constructors’ championship season
Imola was Patrick Tambay’s second and final world championship Grand Prix victory, following his German Grand Prix success in 1982. Both wins came with Ferrari.
The result also contributed to the Scuderia’s successful 1983 constructors’ championship campaign. Its significance therefore combined a major sporting result with the supporters’ continuing attachment to Gilles Villeneuve.
Explore Gilles Villeneuve’s Formula 1 records for more on that Ferrari legacy. Discover other anniversaries in the Ferrari history calendar.
